Tufting needle



United States Patent [56} References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,441,171 5/1948 Schulz 112/222 3,263,631 8/1966 Freeman 112/79 Primary Examiner Richard .I. Scanlan, Jr. Anorney-E.T. Le Gates ABSTRACT: A needle for the manufacture of tufted carpeting of the type wherein the pile yarn is fed through the needle by a stream of air, the needle having an eye extending entirely through the needle adjacent its point and inclined to the nee dle axis, an air conducting bore extending upwardly from the eye to the upper end of the needle, and yarn-accommodating channels in the surface of the needle extending from each opening of the eye in the direction away from the needle point, the needle point lying substantially on the axis of the needle.

YARN FEED 8 MECHANISM 2O 2 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 3,523,510

YARN FEED 8 MECHANISM 2o 2 as FIG 3 36 34 34 3 FIG 2 8 FIG 4 I, 28

FIG I TUFTING NEEDLE The present invention relates to apparatus for the manufacture of tufted carpeting and more particularly to an improved needle for such apparatus.

The invention relates to carpet tufting needles known in the art as hollow needles wherein the pile yarn is fed from the me dle by a blast of air. Such needles as heretofore known in the art have been subject to a number of disadvantages. Normally such needles are formed from a hollow cylindrical tube and the tip or point of the needle is provided by cutting off the hollow tube at an inclination to form a point which is located at one side of the needle. Since such point is offset from the axis of the needle, the operation of driving the needle through the carpet backing imposes lateral stresses on the needle tending to subject it to bending. Further, such dissymmetry tends to unequally displace the yarns or fibres of the backing, causing the major part of the yarn or fibre displacement to be at the side of the needle opposite the point. This problem has been recognized in the art and efforts to solve it have been made, but without complete success. Prior needles have also suffered from the disadvantage that they tend to sever the pile yarn and to cause yarn buildup at the time of needle penetration of the backing fabric. Such hollow tubular needles having necessarily been of a diameter large enough to accommodate the pile yarn inside the bore of the needle have resulted in an excessively large comsumption of the air employed to drive the yarn through the needle. Also, such hollow tubular needles being necessarily of a size sufficiently great to receive and permit free flow of the pile yarn through their bore have tended to impose an upper limit on the fineness of fabric gauge and pitch which they can produce as there necessarily is a physical limit to how much of the backing can be subjected to penetration and disruption by such physically large needles.

The present invention is directed to a needle having in combination certain structural characteristics hereinafter described which overcome the foregoing disadvantages of the hollow needles heretofore known in the art without sacrificing the advantages possessed by such needles.

An object of the invention is to provide a carpet tufting needle of the type wherein the yarn is fed through the needle by a stream of air wherein the needle is largely free from lateral stresses during its penetration into and withdrawal from the backing fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carpet tufting needle of such type wherein the size of the air passageway may be made as small as is desirable from the viewpoint of conservation of air, irrespective of the diameter of the pile yarn to be inserted by the needle.

Another object is to provide a carpet tufting needle of such type which requires less air for a given yarn diameter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carpet tufting needle of such type which needle may be of absolutely smaller outside diameter than heretofore, even for use with large diameter pile yarn.

Another object is to provide a needle of such type wherein.

the hollow space inside the needle heretofore required for the air passageway and yarn passageway is reduced and the strength of the needle may be correspondingly increased.

A further object is to provide a carpet tufting needle of such type in which yarn buildup at the time of needle penetration is substantially reduced.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. I is a vertical sectional view of the needle and associated mechanism showing their relationship to the carpet being manufactured;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the needle;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2, and,

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

In accordance with the invention 1 provide a carpet tufting needle comprising an elongated needle body terminating at one end in a point lying substantially on the axis of the needle body, the body having an eye adjacent said point and passing transversely through the needle body at an inclination to the body axis and opening out of the body at both ends of the eye, and an air-conducting bore extending longitudinally of the body and opening at one end into said eye and at its other end opening out of the body adjacent its end opposite said point, the bore being preferably located between the needle axis and the side of the needle containing the eye opening which is nearer the point. Preferably the needle is provided with a yarn-receiving channel in its surface extending from each opening of the eye in the direction away from the needle point.

Referring to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows the general association of the needle of the invention with the carpet tufting apparatus with which it is used. The tufting apparatus includes a needle bar 2 of a known type having a hollow interior at 4 forming a plenum chamber containing air under pressure introduced through a supply tube 6. The needle bar 2 is supported on and vertically reciprocated by a rod or rods 8 mounting for sliding movement in the machine frame, as is well known in the art. The pile yarn to be inserted by the needle is supplied by a yarn feed mechanism 10 of any suitable type, of which a number are known in the art. The yarn feed mechanism mayrelease the yarn 12 at varying rates under the control of pattern mechanism to form high and low loops in accordance with a pattern, as is well known. The backing fabric into which loops of the pile yarn 12 are to be inserted by the needle appears at 14 and is fed in the conventional manner beneath a presser foot 16 provided with notches 18 for the accommodation of the needles as they are moved downwardly through the presser foot and into the backing fabric 14. The needle bar 2 may carry a yarn guide 20 for the pile yarn 12.

The needle of the invention comprises an elongated needle body 22 of any suitable shape in cross-section, preferably circular. At its upper end 24 the needle body 22 is secured in position in the needle bar 2 in any appropriate manner, which is not a part of the present invention, and for this purpose the upper end of the needle may be formed to other shapes or configurations than that shown. At its lower end the needle body 22 is provided with a point 26 which is disposed on or substantially on the longitudinal axis of the needle body. Such symmetrical disposition of the point 26 substantially frees the needle from lateral stresses as it is reciprocated into and out of the backing fabric 14.

Adjacent the point 26 the needle body 22 is provided with an eye 28 extending entirely through the needle body and opening outwardly from the body at both sides. The eye is disposed at an inclination to the longitudinal axis of the needle body 22, for example, at an inclination such that the angle between the axis of the eye and the longitudinal axis of the needle body 22 is in the neighborhood of 30. The openings of the eye at each side of the body are smoothly rounded to prevent damage to the pile yarn and to allow the pile yarn to reeve freely through the needle eye.

The needle body 22 is provided with a bore 30 extending downwardly as shown to intersect and open into the eye 28 and extending upwardly and opening outwardly of the needle body 22 at its upper end. The bore 30 conducts air from the interior 4 of the needle bar downwardly through the needle body and into the needle eye in the form of an air blast which engages the pile yarn 12 in the needle eye and urges it downwardly and outwardly of the needle eye, to the right as seen in FIG. 1.

Preferably the bore 30 is disposed, as shown, between the axis of the needle body and the side of the needle containing the exit end of the eye 28. When the needle has penetrated the backing fabric 14 so that the eye exit is exposed below the backing the pile yarn may be blown out of the needle into the loop 32 currently being formed. The height of loop formed may be controlled by restraint exercised by the yarn feed mechanism, as is understood in the art.

In the surface of the needle body 22 on the side which contains the exit end of the eye 28 is formed a channel 34 for the accommodation of the pile yarn 12 as the needle is inserted into the backing 14. The channel 34 opens into the needle eye and extends upwardly therefrom in a direction away from the needle point, and may extend entirely to the opposite end of the needle or only as far as is found necessary or desirable in the practical use of the needle. A similar channel 36 is disposed in the other side of the needle body 22, containing the entrance end of the eye 28, to similarly accommodate the pile yarn l2 entering the needle as the needle penetrates the backing fabric 14. Channel 36 opens into the eye 28 and extends therefrom in the direction away from the needle point 26 to the upper end of the needle, or only so far as may be found desirable.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the invention has provided a substantially improved carpet tufting needle of the type wherein the pile yarn is fed through the needle by a stream of air. By the provision of the eye 28 as described, in combination with other features, it is not necessary that the pile yarn 12 extend inside the needle entirely through the full length of the needle and the bore 30 need be only so large as is required to conduct a sufficient flow of air to feed the pile yarn. The outside diameter of the needle accordingly may be reduced, or in a needle of a given size the proportion of its cross-sectional area devoted to hollow space is reduced, contributing to increased strength of the needle. The outside diameter of the needle may be less, irrespective of the diameter of the pile yarn being handled. The air issuing from the lower end of the bore 30 into the-eye, exerts a downward and outward feeding force on the yarn due to the inclination of the eye 28 to the axis of the needle body. Offset location of the bore 30 contributes to efficient feeding of the pile yarn. The channels 34, 36, when present, reduce or eliminate yarn buildup as the needle penetrates the backing fabric 14. Disposition of the needle point on the body axis substantially frees the needle from lateral stresses as it is reciprocated into and out of the backing fabric 14. Notwithstanding the foregoing advantageous structural features, the needle is simple in construction and can be readily manufactured.

I claim:

1. A carpet tufting needle comprising an elongated needle body terminating at one end in a point lying substantially on the axis of the needle body, said body having an eye adjacent said point and passing transversely through the needle body at an inclination to the body axis and opening out of the body at both ends of the eye, and an air conducting bore extending longitudinally of the body and opening at one end into said eye and at the other end opening out of the body adjacent its end opposite said point.

2. The carpet tufting needle of Claim 1 wherein said bore is located between the needle axis and the side of the needle containing the eye opening which is nearer the needle point.

3. A carpet tufting needle in accordance with Claim I having a yarn-receiving channel in the surface of said body extending from each opening of said eye in the direction away from said point.

4. The carpet tufting needle of Claim 3 wherein said bore is located between the needle axis and the side of the needle containing the eye opening which is nearer the needle point. 

